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  • nicksta43

    July 10, 2011 10:19 p.m. nicksta43 Reader

    My wife is very mad at me because I sold the reliable 99 gp and bought this low mileage 1980 320i to use as my daily driver.

    Here is some pics I'll have to tell you about the drive home later I'm very tired.

    and a pic of my old 82 320is just because I painted it and never get tired of showing it off.

  • Quasimo1

    July 10, 2011 10:27 p.m. Quasimo1 New Reader

    Nice! Are you going to keep it stock?

  • nicksta43

    July 10, 2011 10:32 p.m. nicksta43 Reader

    For the time being I hope to try and keep it from deteriorating any worse and use it for my daily driver. Eventually it will go under the knife to get rid of the rust and who knows how it will end up

    Probably just a nice restomod though.

  • Luke

    July 10, 2011 10:38 p.m. Luke SuperDork

    Neat! I love old BMW interiors, and that one is in great condition.

    Nice job on your old one, too. It has a cool 'period' tuner vibe about it...bumperless, recaros, mesh mags, chin spoiler. Very cool.

  • SyntheticBlinkerFluid

    July 10, 2011 10:49 p.m. SyntheticBlinkerFluid HalfDork

    God I miss simplistic interiors. That's an awesome car, hope it's a good DD for you.

  • T.J.

    July 10, 2011 10:56 p.m. T.J. SuperDork

    I thought that intake manifolds like that were from E30 318's and that the E21's had a different looking intake. Looks like she cleaned up nicely. Does it have a limited slip?

  • amg_rx7

    July 10, 2011 11:04 p.m. amg_rx7 HalfDork

    Seriously low mileage. Nice find!

    Buy the wife some flowers.

  • Vigo

    July 11, 2011 1:18 a.m. Vigo Dork

    Reminds me somewhat of the Volvo i just bought.

  • Woody

    July 11, 2011 5:15 a.m. Woody SuperDork

    320i's hold a special place in my heart, as they were the first European cars that I really noticed and cared about when I was a little kid. I was already into cars, primarily Mustangs, but there was something about the 320i that really caught my eye. They were also the first cars that I saw being modified in a non- CarCraft sort of way.

    Have fun with it!

  • DrBoost

    July 11, 2011 5:47 a.m. DrBoost SuperDork

    You sold a Pontiac for a BMW, that's a win in any car-guy/gals heart. I mean, it's a Grand Prix for goodness sake. You traded up!

    Isn't it amazing what some soap and water will do for a car. I don't know what you paid for the BMW, but after washing it I bet you could have doubled your money.

  • mad_machine

    July 11, 2011 6:13 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

    The E21 was always a pretty car. I especially like them in in single 7" headlight guise like you could get them in Europe

  • July 11, 2011 6:30 a.m. stan SuperDork

    I can see why you're tired! How many hours did you spend -and it doesn't look like you stopped with the cosmetics either.

    Nice interior too.

  • jimbob_racing

    July 11, 2011 6:38 a.m. jimbob_racing Dork

    Nice car. It cleaned up well. You really made the right choice.

  • White_and_Nerdy

    July 11, 2011 7:09 a.m. White_and_Nerdy HalfDork

    I once raised the ire of a significant other when I picked up an 83 320i to complement my 95 Mercury Tracer DD. Was a fun car - my first RWD, my first manual transmission... I agree, ergonomically it was one of the best interiors I've ever sat in - especially after I added the factory Recaros. I hope that one cleans up well for you.

  • Giant Purple Snorklewacker

    July 11, 2011 7:11 a.m. Giant Purple Snorklewacker SuperDork

    Nice!

    Where did you get that spoiler on the black one?

  • Ranger50

    July 11, 2011 9:26 a.m. Ranger50 Dork

    Tell your wife, you preemptively stopped catching the house on fire by getting rid of the spontaneous combustion car.

    Good score.

  • ArthurDent

    July 11, 2011 12:24 p.m. ArthurDent Reader

    Looks like a very nice, clean and solid car. Nicely done.

  • ClemSparks

    July 11, 2011 12:54 p.m. ClemSparks SuperDork

    My ex was PISSED when I came home with a free purple '83 320i.

    "Why did you get that?" she asked.

    "Because it was FREE and I just DROVE it home. [shrug]" was my response.

    Neat car, but I didn't have the desire to learn or the budget tolerance to purchase tools for maintenance/repair of the fuel injection system.

    Clem

  • July 11, 2011 1:12 p.m. NY535iManual New Reader

    Nice - My first car was an '80 320i, and I've had a huge soft spot for them ever since.

  • Powar

    July 11, 2011 1:36 p.m. Powar Dork

    Great decision, and a big step up in the eyes of this car enthusiast. What a great-looking and fun car.

  • nicksta43

    July 11, 2011 5:22 p.m. nicksta43 Reader

    Thanks guys, I actually spent way more time on the mechanicals than cleaning it up. It sat for around three years outside and all kinds of bad things happened. The rf caliper froze on the drive home boiling the fluid which at that point was mostly water. The throttle was sticking very badly as well. It's getting better every time I drive it. The spoiler on the black car was made in Germany by FOHA, apparently it's pretty rare in the states. It was a very heavy rubber material with steel inside that had rusted through.

  • Nitroracer

    July 11, 2011 8:30 p.m. Nitroracer SuperDork

    Looks like it has a lot of life left in it, have fun driving!

    Cleaned up very well.

 
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